In the last year the UMMS has recruited Dr. David Kennedy, an internationally/recognized authority in Neurolnformatics, to its brain imaging program. As noted in the Introduction, one ofthe specific aims of the current P30 grant is to increase the ability of our IDDRC to execute and support cognitive neuroscience projects of high quality, and his arrival fills an important need in that area. Dr. Kennedy will coordinate Informatics Services within Core C, and with Dr. Curtis Deutsch will serve as Co-Director. Dr. Deutsch will continue to direct Statistical Services for the IDDRC. Also, in this expanded Core, we are joined by faculty from the recently formed Department of Quantitative Health Sciences (QHS) at UMMS. Statistics. With the advent ofthe QHS department, there has been an influx of talented consulting statisticians, epidemiologists, and methodologists at UMMS (see letter of support, Catarina Kiefe, MD, Director, QHS). One important addition is Dr. Arlene Ash, a senior biostatistician and investigator in public health, who heads the QHS Division of Biostatistics and Health Services Research. She coordinates the activities of a number of statisticians under the aegis ofthe QHS, including members who are joining our IDDRC Quantitative Services (see below). Usha Govindarajulu, PhD, a member of the QHS faculty, has recently come on board as a staff statistician to the IDDRC. She will join Dr. Anne Hunt, who has served as consulting statistician over the previous funding period and will continue this work. Informatics. Our Core is also the beneficiary of another recently arrived authority in Informatics, Dr. Thomas Houston, newly appointed Director ofthe Division of Health Informatics and Implementation Science, and his colleague Dr. Rajani Sadasivam. Dr. Houston is also Co-Director ofthe Biomedical Informatics program at UMMS, providing support for clinical and translational research. Further, longstanding UMMS faculty Drs. David Lapointe and Juerg Straubhaar, authorities on bioinformatics, will provide their guidance in computing and software-based applications in molecular genetics. In addition to providing direct service at UMMS, we will continue to provide guidance for investigators seeking specialized expertise within the UMMS and beyond its walls. We have created an IDDRC Quantitative Services Advisory Committee, comprised of Drs. Ash, Houston, Lapointe, Sadasivam, Straubhaar, Weng, and Zottola, and chaired by Drs. Kennedy and Deutsch. This committee will meet with investigators, who will present their problems for review, and committee members will make recommendations on design and methodology in Informatics and Statistics. Committee members'networks of colleagues, along with the extensive group of statistical consultants who have participated over previous funding periods, will provide a broad array of expertise to IDDRC investigators.